232 

D7 
C5 


SB   151 


R.  R.  DONNELLEY 


A  MEMORIAL 


>- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

JNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


OF" 


to 

Class  ^ 


A  MEMORIAL 


OF 


R.  R.  DONNELLEY 


THE  CHICAGO  TYPOTHET^E 
i\ 


or  THE 
UN1VERSP 

. 

.  «.«  UM.-i-il^X 


CHICAGO 

THE  CHICAGO  TYPOTHET^E 
1899 


BORN  NOVEMBER   15,   1836 
DIED  APRIL  8,  1899 


At  a  Regular  Meeting  of  the  Chicago 
Typothette,  held  on  the  evening  of  May  4, 1899, 
the  following  Report  and  Minute,  prepared  by  a 
Special  Committee,  was  received  and  unanimously 
ordered  printed. 

THOMAS  KNAPP, 

W.  F.  HALL,  President. 

Secretary. 


R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

SINCE  our  last  meeting,  one  of  our  oldest 
and  most  honored  members,  Mr.  Richard 
Robert  Donnelley,  has  passed  into  the 
Higher  Life.  In  the  records  alike  of  the  Chicago 
Typothetae  and  of  the  United  Typothetae  of 
America,  no  name  occurs  more  frequently  than 
his,  nor  in  connections  more  significant  and  im- 
portant. No  one  had  a  wider  acquaintance  and 
friendship  with  the  representative  men  of  our 
craft  in  America,  and  perhaps  no  one  in  our 
local  organization  was  personally  and  intimately 
known  to  so  many  of  its  members  and  their 
employees. 

We  desire  to  put  on  record  a  brief  synopsis  of 
his  life,  our  estimate  of  his  career  and  character, 
an  expression  of  our  sympathy  with  those  who 
loved  him  best  and  mourn  him  most,  and  the 
sense  of  bereavement  which  comes  afresh  to  us, 
his  brethren,  as  this  hour  of  formal  memorial 
stirs  anew  the  memories  of  our  long  companion- 
ship and  of  his  useful,  happy  life. 


£2 R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

Mr.  Donnelley  was  born  at  Hamilton,  Canada, 
November  15,  1836,  of  an  English  and  Irish 
ancestry  which  has  record  of  honorable  distinction 
and  eminent  public  service  as  far  back  as  the 
times  of  Charles  I.  and  Oliver  Cromwell.  At 
the  early  age  of  thirteen  years  the  lad's  restless 
and  adventurous  spirit  took  him  from  school  into 
a  printing-office,  where  he  began  to  study  and 
practice  the  rudiments  of  the  business  of  which, 
in  all  its  branches,  he  was  to  become  in  a  few 
years  so  conspicuous  a  master.  At  sixteen  he 
was  receiving  journeyman's  wages  for  night  and 
morning  work  while  he  pursued  a  two  years' 
course  in  the  High  school.  Upon  the  comple- 
tion of  this  course,  while  only  eighteen,  he  was 
tendered  and  accepted  the  foremanship  of  the 
office  in  which  he  had  served  his  time.  Shortly 
thereafter  he  became  partner  in  a  job-office.  In 
1857,  when  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
accepted  an  advantageous  offer,  and  removed  to 
New  Orleans.  The  outbreak  of  the  war  sent 
him  North,  and  in  1861,  after  a  short  visit  to 
Chicago,  he  returned  to  his  native  city  and  again 
became  partner  in  a  printing-office.  In  1863 
occurred  his  marriage.  In  1864  Mr.  Church  and 
Mr.  Goodman,  seeking  a  practical  partner,  heard  of 


A  MEMORIAL  13 


Mr.  Donnelley.  Says  Mr.  Goodman:  "Careful 
inquiry  showed  that  he  was  a  man  of  excellent 
character  and  greatly  skilled  in  printing."  Hence 
followed  the  removal  to  Chicago,  the  partnership 
of  Church,  Goodman  &  Donnelley,  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  1870  by  the  Lakeside  Publishing  and 
Printing  Company,  with  Mr.  Donnelley  as  its 
manager.  The  great  fire  of  1871  destroyed  the 
nearly  completed  building  of  this  company  (as 
also  the  home  of  its  manager),  and  practically 
annihilated  its  business.  With  nothing  left  but 
his  credit,  Mr.  Donnelley  at  once  secured  a 
plant  and  started  a  business  on  his  own  account. 
Soon  thereafter  the  Lakeside  Publishing  and 
Printing  Company  was  revived  and  reorganized, 
with  Mr.  Donnelley  again  its  manager.  Subse- 
quently this  Company  was  merged  into  Don- 
nelley, Loyd  &  Company,  for  a  time  Donnelley, 
Cassette  &  Loyd,  and  finally  the  well-known 
R.  R.  Donnelley  &  Sons  Company. 

In  1874  Mr.  Donnelley  undertook  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Chicago  Directory,  with  which  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life  he  was  so  successfully 
identified. 

This,  in  briefest  outline,  is  a  sketch  of  our 
brother's  business  career.  It  covers  a  full  half- 


14  R.  R.   DONNELLEY 

century  of  manly,  vigorous,  heroic  endeavor  and 
advance,  from  the  apprenticeship  in  the  crude 
establishment  of  the  provincial  town  to  the  con- 
trol of  a  prominent  metropolitan  industry.  In  the 
completeness  and  excellence  of  the  equipment  of 
this  establishment,  in  the  dignity  and  appropriate- 
ness of  the  noble  edifice  in  which  it  is  installed, 
and,  more  than  all,  in  the  crowning  blessing  of 
sons  so  informed  and  inspired  with  the  spirit 
and  so  trained  in  the  methods  of  such  a  master 
and  such  a  father  as  to  worthily  succeed  him  — 
were  at  last  realized  to  the  full  the  dreams  and 
hopes,  the  aspirations  and  rewards,  of  this  brave 
and  noble  life.  He  had  his  full  share  of  reverses 
and  discouragements,  but  these  only  emphasize 
the  final  triumph,  so  close  upon  the  achievement 
of  which  were  spoken  those  last  words  of  his, 
so  appropriate,  so  memorable,  so  significant,  so 
characteristic:  "  This  is  the  end.  Do  not  worry." 
Mr.  Donnelley  was  distinguished  for  his  ex- 
ecutive power,  technical  knowledge,  high  and 
imperative  standards,  a  progressive  spirit,  tireless 
energy,  unfailing  devotion  to  duty,  and  high 
ideals  of  business  honor.  He  had  a  keen  appre- 
ciation of  the  dignity  of  his  profession.  He 
recognized  the  importance  of  its  relation  not 


A  MEMORIAL  15 


only  to  all  commercial  enterprise,  but  to  literature 
and  education.  Probably  no  other  calling  had 
for  him  any  allurements.  He  was  proud  to  be 
what  in  its  broadest  sense  he  was,  a  "master" 
printer.  There  was  an  element  of  the  true 
artist  spirit  in  his  devotion.  His  business  was 
to  him  not  merely  a  means  to  a  livelihood  and  a 
competence,  but  an  art  which  inspired  enthusiasm 
and  devotion.  The  endeavor  was  not  merely  to 
satisfy  the  customer,  but  to  satisfy  himself.  "Art 
for  art's  sake"  had  a  large  place  in  his  thought 
and  effort.  He  was  ambitious  not  merely  for 
financial  success,  but  for  professional  reputation, 
and  the  latter  not  alone  for  the  sake  of  the  former. 
To  establish  standards  of  artistic  merit  and  ever 
to  advance  them ;  to  hold  close  to  the  inexorable 
canons  of  good  taste  in  typographic  expression, 
regardless  of  popular  fallacies  and  fads  and  mere- 
tricious effects;  to  secure  in  his  productions  not 
simply  mechanical  exactness,  but  esthetic  satisfac- 
tions —  to  these  ends  did  he  give  tireless  devotion ; 
and  how  gladly  do  his  brethren  of  the  craft  award 
him  generous  meed  of  praise ! 

It  is  fitting,  in  recording  our  estimate  of  one 
departed,  that  we  thus  make  mention  of  the 
material  and  professional  successes  achieved;  and 


16  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

yet,  when  we  mourn  a  friend  and  brother,  and 
would  express  our  love  for  him  and  our  apprecia- 
tion of  his  life,  it  is  not  to  these  successes  that  the 
heart  instinctively  turns.  What  soul  was  in  the 
man ;  what  he  was  in  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
home ;  what  he  was  in  the  sacred  bonds  of  friend- 
ship and  in  all  civic  and  social  relations ;  if  a  man 
has  so  lived  that  those  who  knew  him  are  his 
friends  —  these  memories  are  what  such  friends 
dwell  upon,  and  these  are  the  memories  of  Richard 
Robert  Donnelley  which  evoke  our  admiration 
and  our  tears. 

In  personal  character  he  was  above  reproach. 
Faithful  in  friendships,  of  unswerving  integrity, 
pure  in  heart  and  life ;  a  pleasant  companion,  a 
wise  and  generous  counselor,  a  gentleman  in 
heart,  instinct,  and  manner;  tenderly  susceptible 
to  friendly  interest,  generous,  warm-hearted,  manly, 
sympathetic;  unassuming  yet  always  ready  to  meet 
any  responsibility  which  might  seem  to  devolve 
upon  him;  keenly  alive  to  all  proper  enjoyments 
of  life,  a  most  tender  and  loving  husband  and 
father — was  he  not  all  of  these  in  a  measure  that 
would  make  this  world  a  better  and  happier 
world  if  there  were  more  like  him  ?  It  has 
been  most  appropriately  and  truthfully  said  of 


A  MEMORIAL  17 


Mr.  Donnelley:  "No  one  ever  heard  him  speak  an 
ill  word  of  any  one ;  no  one  ever  heard  any  one 
speak  an  ill  word  of  him."  Those  who  knew 
him  best  loved  him  best;  and  perhaps  no  tribute 
more  fragrant  or  significant  than  this  can  be  laid 
upon  the  bier  of  a  friend. 

To  the  widow,  sitting  alone  in  her  grief,  to  the 
daughter  and  the  sons  whose  loving  comrade  he 
was,  we,  his  close  friends,  we,  his  comrades  in  the 
craft  which  was  his  pride,  would  send  this  testi- 
mony of  our  love,  to  tell  of  our  sympathy  with 
their  sorrow  and  of  our  appreciation  of  the 
qualities  that  endeared  him  to  them  and  to  us. 


After  the  reading  of  the  report,  Mr.  P.  F. 
Pettibone,  Chairman  of  the  Special  Com- 
mittee, said: 

It  is  my  sad  privilege  to  move  the  adop- 
tion of  this  memorial  record.  In  doing  so,  I 
cannot  and  need  not  add  anything  to  the 
expressions  of  love  and  sorrow  and  sympathy 
which  the  committee  has  embodied  in  its  report. 
My  friendship  for  Mr.  Donnelley  has  been  a 
long  one,  and  has  grown  with  the  later  years  of 
our  more  intimate  acquaintance.  Nothing  has 
ever  occurred  to  lessen  my  regard  for  him.  He 
was  always  generous  and  helpful  to  those  of  the 
craft  who  lacked  his  practical  experience.  I  shall 
always  be  glad  that  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
of  his  death  I  had  a  half-hour  of  most  pleasant 
converse  with  him.  He  never  seemed  more 
buoyant.  He  was  happy  all  through,  and  so 
winning  and  entertaining  in  his  talk  that  I  was 
reluctant  to  say  good-by.  I  thank  God  that 
with  a  heart  full  of  good  will  I  spoke  that  last 
good-by. 


2o  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

MR.  J.  W.  BUTLER  : 

I  fully  indorse  the  paper  just  read  by  Mr. 
P.  F.  Pettibone  on  the  life  and  character  of  the 
late  Mr.  R.  R.  Donnelley.  My  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Donnelley  extends  back  to  the  time 
when  he  first  came  to  Chicago  to  make  this  city 
his  future  home ;  hence  I  could  say  a  great  many 
good  things  about  his  character  and  life,  but  the 
paper  referred  to  covers  the  ground  quite  effi- 
ciently. 

I  will  say,  however,  that  I  have  always  admired 
him  for  his  business  energy,  his  social  qualities, 
his  unselfish  disposition.  I  have  had  such  con- 
fidence in  his  opinion  that  I  have  frequently 
sought  his  advice  when  I  have  had  difficult 
business  or  social  problems  to  solve. 

His  exemplary  character  and  life  may  well  be 
emulated  by  others  who  are  assuming  the  active 
duties  of  life.  We  shall  all  miss  him. 

MR.  ANDREW  McNALLY: 

For  many  years  Mr.  Donnelley  was  to  me  a 
loved  and  respected  friend.  When  we  only 
respect  a  friend,  we  refer  to  him  as  Mister.  When 
we  both  love  and  respect  him,  we  are  apt  to  be 


A  MEMORIAL  21 


more  familiar;  and  so  he  always  was  to  me  "Dick" 
Donnelley.  He  and  I  were  for  many  years  com- 
panions, chums.  He  was  a  good  fellow,  had  a 
hearty  laugh,  a  smiling  face,  and  a  pleasant  word, 
which  made  his  presence  welcome  everywhere. 
At  our  Typothetae  banquets  none  was  merrier ; 
but,  as  you  all  know,  nothing  passed  his  lips 
stronger  than  mineral  water.  His  will  power, 
goodness  of  heart,  and  affectionate  nature  are  illus- 
trated by  his  statement  to  me :  "  My  good  wife 
does  not  like  me  to  drink  liquor  of  any  kind, 
and  I  will  not." 

The  news  of  Mr.  Donnelley's  death  came  to 
me  in  an  abrupt  manner.  His  son  Ted,  as  I 
like  to  call  him,  telegraphed  me  at  Pasadena. 
Early  the  next  morning  I  was  called  to  the  tele- 
phone in  my  house  and  the  operator  read  the 
message.  I  had  been  expecting  Mr.  Donnelley 
in  California  about  that  time,  and  the  news  of  his 
death  was  a  startling  and  painful  shock. 

He  and  I  frequently  conferred  with  each  other 
on  matters  of  business,  almost  as  freely  and  unre- 
servedly as  with  our  own  business  associates.  I 
know  how  proud  and  grateful  he  was  when  his 
business  was  successfully  installed  in  the  beautiful 
fire-proof  building  which  he  owned ;  and  the 


22 R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

consciousness  that  he  would  leave  to  his  children 
such  a  splendid  monument  of  his  business  ability 
and  industry  must  have  been  a  pleasant  thought 
during  the  closing  years  of  his  life. 

No  member  of  the  Typothetae  will  be  missed 
more  than  Mr.  Donnelley,  none  whose  memory 
will  be  more  revered.  He  was  loved  for  his 
affability  and  good-nature,  respected  for  his  integ- 
rity, and  honored  for  his  industry  and  business 
ability. 

MR.  GEORGE  E.  COLE  : 

Brother  Pettibone's  reading  of  the  Committee's 
report  has  brought  vividly  before  my  mind  an 
episode  in  our  friend's  career  which  I  feel  com- 
pelled to  mention  at  this  time. 

The  first  duty  that  devolved  on  me  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Municipal  Voters'  League  was  to 
select  an  executive  committee  of  nine  members. 
They  were  to  cover  all  sections  of  the  city,  all 
grades  of  political  opinion  and  social  standing; 
but  above  all,  they  must  be  honest  and  fearless 
men,  who  could  stand  criticism. 

In  this  connection  I  thought  of  R.  R.  Don- 
nelley. I  went  up  to  his  house  one  stormy 
Sunday  afternoon  and  laid  the  matter  before  him. 


A  MEMORIAL 23 


His  first  impulse  was  to  decline.  He  naturally 
shrank  from  the  added  work  and  responsibility ; 
but  when  I  put  it  before  him  as  a  duty  that  he 
owed  to  the  community,  he  consented.  From 
that  day  to  the  time  when  he  was  called  to  the 
Higher  Life  he  was  an  enthusiastic  worker  for 
municipal  reform.  I  learned  to  love  and  esteem 
him  as  a  patriotic  citizen.  His  devotion  and 
unselfishness  were  an  inspiration  to  all  his  asso- 
ciates. No  man  in  our  community  came  nearer 
being  the  ideal  citizen  than  the  friend  whom  we 
all  mourn  to-night.  I  fully  believe  that  to  him 
has  been  given  the  benediction,  "  Well  done,  thou 
good  and  faithful  servant ! " 

MR.  AMOS  PETTIBONE  : 

Nothing  need  be  added  to  what  has  already 
been  said  to  express  our  appreciation  of  the  many 
sterling  qualities  of  our  friend,  or  the  warm  place 
he  occupies  in  the  heart  of  every  one  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact,  or  whose  pleasure  and  privi- 
lege it  was  to  enjoy  his  friendship  and  confidence. 
My  only  desire  is  simply  to  express  my  personal 
tribute  of  appreciation  of  his  loyalty  to  every  prin- 
ciple and  duty  that  engaged  his  attention,  or  with 
which  he  consented  to  accept  or  perform  service. 


24 R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

I  wish  to  speak  of  his  work  as  a  member  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Municipal 
Voters'  League,  in  this  city,  to  which  he  devoted 
a  large  portion  of  the  last  days  of  his  life. 
Being  myself  an  interested  party  as  a  candidate 
during  the  recent  political  campaign,  I  was  thrown 
into  frequent,  intimate,  confidential  relations  with 
him.  Only  a  few  days  prior  to  the  election,  he 
received  some  important  information  personal  to 
myself,  and  of  such  a  nature  that  he  deemed 
necessary  it  be  communicated  correctly  and  imme- 
diately to  me.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it 
would  involve  a  journey  of  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles,  he  at  once  called  a  carriage,  and  in  due 
season  reached  my  home,  about  nine  o'clock,  on 
a  cold,  stormy  Sunday  evening,  explaining  to  me 
in  full  detail  the  occasion  which  brought  him  out 
on  such  a  cheerless  night. 

I  can  never  forget  this  my  last  visit  from  and 
interview  with  him,  as  one  so  characteristic  of  his 
every  thought  and  act.  Its  recollections  will 
ever  remain  with  me  as  an  inspiration  to  higher 
and  nobler  thoughts,  as  I  cherish  the  belief  that 
a  warmer,  truer,  nobler  heart  never  beat  within  a 
human  breast. 


A  MEMORIAL 25 


MR.  B.  B.  HERBERT  : 

On  Wednesday  evening  before  the  last  monthly 
meeting  of  this  association,  Mr.  R.  R.  Donnelley 
was  at  the  Union  Station  in  this  city  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  friends  from  Winnipeg,  while  I  was 
there  to  take  a  train  for  Portland,  Oregon.  We 
were  both  early,  and  had  an  hour  or  so  to  wait. 
Mr.  Donnelley  was  rejoicing  in  the  prosperity 
of  business,  and  in  the  success  which  his  estab- 
lishment had  attained  in  the  last  ten  years.  He 
spoke  of  the  business  difficulties  that  had  over- 
taken him  just  previous  to  that  time,  of  the  aid 
of  a  timely  loan  from  a  friend,  and  of  the  strug- 
gle that  had  brought  success.  On  that  night  his 
company  had  not  only  their  own  large  plant,  in 
their  splendidly  appointed  new  building,  busy, 
but  thirty-two  presses  outside  running  on  the 
overflow  of  work  from  their  establishment. 

Conversation  turned  to  the  Typothetae,  and  to 
the  work  of  the  committee  on  which  he  and  I 
were  then  associated  with  others,  in  the  effort  to 
inaugurate  a  better  understanding  among  employ- 
ing printers,  and  the  establishing  of  plans  for 
securing  just  and  remunerative  prices  for  work. 
He  spoke  of  a  social  engagement  that  really 


26 R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

demanded  his  attendance  the  coming  night,  but 
said  he  would  put  this  aside,  as  he  felt  his  first 
and  highest  duty  was  to  the  Typothetae,  to  the 
members  of  this  calling  which  we  all  know  he 
so  loved.  He  expressed  regrets  that  business 
took  me  away  from  the  meeting.  There  were 
other  words  of  his  showing  kindly  interest  in  the 
work  in  which  I  had  been  engaged  for  several 
years  past.  He  manifested  a  genuine  solicitude 
in  its  success  as  serviceable  to  the  calling.  He 
was  happy,  hopeful,  seemingly  in  the  best  of 
health,  and  talked  with  the  earnestness,  feeling, 
and  interest  which  he  ever  manifested.  A  little 
before  10:45  o'clock  we  bade  each  other  good-by. 
I  started  on  my  journey  across  the  continent ;  he 
turned  away  to  meet  his  friends  expected  on  an 
incoming  train.  He  was  the  last  man  with  whom 
I  shook  hands  before  my  departure,  and  it  was 
with  a  feeling  that  he  was  more  vigorous  and  had 
a  better  prospect  for  many  years  of  life  and  suc- 
cess than  myself  that  I  left  him. 

On  Monday  morning  I  reached  Portland.  On 
Saturday  night  Mr.  Donnelley  had  completed 
his  life's  journey.  When  the  news  reached  me, 
simply  in  the  words,  "Mr.  Donnelley  is  dead," 
I  could  not  believe  that  it  was  R.  R.  Donnelley, 


A  MEMORIAL  27 


the  pressure  of  whose  hand  seemed  still  warm  in 
mine.  When  the  news  was  confirmed  and  I 
knew  the  truth,  it  came  with  a  great  shock :  more 
so,  perhaps,  than  would  have  been  the  case  had  I 
been  at  home  in  this  city.  It  did  not  seem  pos- 
sible. I  could  only  think  of  him  as  I  had  left 
him — smiling,  genial,  following  me  to  the  car 
with  kind  wishes,  and  then  turning  with  a  joyous 
spring  in  his  step,  life  and  vigor  in  every  motion, 
to  hurry  to  the  welcome  of  his  "Canadian  cous- 
ins," as  he  spoke  of  them. 

I  had  not  been  privileged  to  share  that  close- 
ness of  association  and  friendship  enjoyed  by 
many  of  you,  my  business  calling  me  so  fre- 
quently from  the  city  that  I  sometimes  feel  like 
a  stranger  at  home.  Mr.  Donnelley  was  kind  to 
strangers  as  well  as  to  friends,  open  and  confi- 
dential with  all.  His  death  comes  to  us  as  a 
terrible  shock  and  an  irreparable  loss.  Yet 
there  is  room  for  consolation.  Mr.  Donnelley 
was  more  fully  revealed  to  me  on  the  night  of 
that  last  conversation  than  at  any  other  time.  He 
had  experienced  hardships,  losses,  and  disasters ; 
but,  as  eloquently  described  here  to-night,  he  had 
won  in  life's  battle.  He  died  a  victor.  He  had 
attained  to  his  life's  ambition  of  establishing  a 


28  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 

great  printing  house.  As  a  printer,  above  all 
other  things,  he  was  proud  to  be  known.  While 
in  sorrow,  we  yet  rejoice  that  he  was  permitted  to 
live  to  conquer  the  difficulties  that  had  at  one 
time  overtaken  him,  and  to  die  surrounded  with 
naught  but  bright  prospects  for  the  future.  We 
will  remember  him  as  a  genial  friend,  ever  ready 
with  kind  words  and  deeds,  whose  life  went  out 
beneath  no  shadow  of  failure,  but  crowned  with 
well-earned,  honorable,  merited  success. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

;;IOOL  LIBKAKX 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


MAY  2  4  1967 

JUN  1  6  1967 

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